Vincent's 1 Year Update!

 

Man - I am posting this SO late!! From Vincent's birthday on has been complete and utter chaos between his birthday, the wedding and several other changes. I didn't want to post this until I got the final photo of me holding Vince with the striped shirt to complete the series....but we never took it! *sob* So much for promising myself to follow through with these things! Hehe! Anyway, better late than never, here is Vincent's 1 year update!

Height/Weight: According to our home scale and measuring tape, Vincent weighs 21 lbs (34%), is 30 inches long (74%) and has a head circumference of 50cm (98%). At his one year check up, he weighed 22 lbs, but was 28.5 in long, so we were a little off on our own measurements!

Daily: Our daily routine is the same as last month, aside from occasionally switching from 2 to 1 naps per day, depending on our activities. He has two to three solid meals with small snacks in between and three to four bottles per day. Vincent seems to enjoy running errands, although we don't do it every day! I've noticed that he is particularly fond of Hancock Fabrics, because he likes the way the fabric tickles his hands when we roll by! It's also a great way for him to feel and experience different textures. Apparently he likes blue, because that's the color he always seems to grab.

At home, I've been a bit less worried about letting him walk around (with a little help) on the tile floor, so that he can explore the house! But he does still spend most of his wake time at home on his play mat. We sit together and practice our animal sounds, our letters and numbers, and problem solving with his ring stacker and shape sorter. One thing I do let him do, which I promised I wouldn't until he is at least two, is let him watch a little bit of TV in the morning and in the evening. Either an episode of Sesame Street or two episodes of Fraggle Rock. He doesn't seem interested at all until the music comes on, then he starts dancing! :D
His bedtime routine is still the same. 

Sleep: Vincent has slept through the night just about every night for the past month. If he does wake up, he finds his binky and goes back to sleep pretty quickly and only occasionally needs a bottle in the middle of the night. The first two nights back in our bedroom were a little rough, but he got used to the old environment pretty quickly. I was so afraid that being back in our bedroom would affect his sleeping, but it really hasn't! And I've noticed that he doesn't wake up to every tiny sound like he used to, which makes it easier to go into the room to go to bed without disturbing him.
We still have the same bedtime and sleeping routine, giving him a bath every other night before bed. He does a little bit better with baths now - I've found that the trick is to give him a bath toy to take with him out of the tub to keep him busy while I dry him off, put on a new diaper and lotion! His bedtime routine has become second nature. He knows exactly what happens, because I haven't changed anything. I sing to him while he drinks his bottle, then we read a couple of stories, always ending in "The Going to Bed Book", which I've read to him nearly every single night since we moved to Midland. He has begun to interact with the book, laughing at certain things, and helping me turn pages. I love how much he loves being read to! And he still sleeps in zippies, four of which Grandma made for him! He sleeps terribly without it or his two crocheted lovies from Granny.
As far as naps go, he is right on the edge of switching to one nap per day, so there have been times he will just take one long 2.5 to 3 hour nap mid-day. (Usually when we're out and about) We will continue to experiment with it until he can get into a good routine appropriate for him and his age. 

Eating: For the most part, we've cut down to three 8oz bottles a day. I feed him one in the morning, one after his first nap, then the last before bed. He gets three solid meals with snacks in between. Lately it's been a banana and plain cheerios for breakfast, a sandwich or some pasta and a Gerber Graduates meal for dinner and food of our plates here and there. He loves chicken, beef, pasta with different sauces, mixed vegetables (green beans in particular), chopped up bananas and apples with or without cinnamon and yogurt. He likes to snack on cheerios, yogurt melts and veggie puffs (particularly the ranch, veggie ones) in between meals. When he is hungry, he yells "Nananana!" (Banana haha). I've also begun to give him water and juice in a sippy cup throughout the day. Unfortunately, milk is still a no-go, so we are going to have to explore different options once he is completely weaned off of formula.
Oh! And he really likes feeding other people. Particularly the dogs. He even tries to feed his stuffed friends sometimes! 

Sharing yogies with "DeeDee" the Ewok!

Sizes: Vincent is in 12 month and 18 month clothing. He will be in size 4 diapers for quite a while still. We finally got him some bigger socks, because the ones he had, he has completely outgrown. He is in a size 3 shoe now, but still fits in his 9-12 month crib shoes. We will likely retire them now though, since he has begun walking!

1 Year Milestones and Changes:

• We took our first trip to the playground on February 10th and Vincent had fun in the baby swing for the first time! He also managed to walk around the park while holding my hands. 

• Vincent FINALLY got not only his first tooth this past month, but his first THREE! All within a little over a week of one another. His first was his left lateral incisor on the top on the 10th of February, followed by his bottom central incisors on the 18th and 19th. It looks like the next one to come through will be his right lateral incisor on the top, so we will have a little vampire baby! Hehe :D (His left lateral incisor and left front tooth came in on the 21st of March and his right front tooth came in on the 9th of April, leaving us with 6 teeth now!)

• New teeth means brushing them too! I got Vincent his first little toothbrush and some baby toothpaste that is safe to swallow. Funny how he hates me feeling his gums, but doesn't mind me brushing his teeth!
• Vincent celebrated his 1st Valentine's Day! 

• Vincent has become very used to using a sippy cup. Throughout the day, I've been offering him water, apple and orange juice and milk, but as I mentioned above, he is not a fan at all!

• He took his first steps to me on the 11th of February! He had taken one or two single steps at a time before, but this time he walked all the way across his mat. He lifts up his arms in the air like a little ape. It is so funny! And sometimes he will giggle so hard, that he gets weak in the knees and just collapses into my arms. He has gotten pretty confident with it the past few weeks and has gotten better about sitting down when he is getting unstable instead of falling over. He has also started to walk in between his toys instead of dropping down into a crawl, since he has found he can get from A to B faster if he walks. I am hoping by our wedding next month, he will be able to walk down the aisle with a little help to be our ring bearer! :)